April Snowman

My girls have learned about the snow quickly. I guess it may be a cultural thing although I don't think we get any more snow than many places down south, but it is certainly around for a larger portion of the year. Someone told me (totally unconfirmed) that the Athabaskans (native Alaskans up north) have 100 words for snow. They understand things about the character of snow that helps them predict weather, know hunting patterns and make housing. I know a few words...powder, corn, slush, ice, sleet, flaky, ice...but not anything close to 100.

Anyway, my girls have learned enough to know that the snow here usually doesn't pack. It's so cold most of the year, that the ideal snow temperature (just below freezing) is never really present. There are a few times at the beginning of the snow season (October) and the end (April) when you can get warmer snow. Well, that day happened this past Wednesday and the following day, the girls could talk of nothing but snowman building. I thought it would be the last of the year, but as I write this, it is currently snowing pretty good outside. Maybe we'll make another one today. The one we made fell over that night (it was 50 degrees outside and it basically melted and fell...certainly it's construction was flawless and played no part in the demise).

The first snowman I built up here was done in October '05 and I knew it would be standing for a while, so I actually got a step ladder and made a 5 ball beast (it was about 12 feet tall). A second smaller one was about 10 feet. They melted in April the following year.

I did look up some interesting facts on snowmen while diligently researching this article.

1 - The largest snowman made of natural snow (there was a synthetic one in Singapore in 2004) was made in Bethel, Maine. His name is Angus, King of the Mountain and you can see him here.

2 - Boogg is a large "snowman" made of explosives by the Swiss and is burned after the vernal equinox as a celebration of spring called Sechselauten. More info is available at Wikipedia on snowmen here. I actually though there would be more there.

3 - You burn 238 calories per hour building a snowman. Just remember to bend with the knees and watch that back!

More photos of our snowman here.